CALENDAR LISTING:
Philip Schultz, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, will speak about his new memoir, My Dyslexia (2011), a first-hand exploration of the mind’s ability to triumph over its own disabilities, on Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. in Campus Center Room 375, on the University at Albany’s uptown campus. Earlier that day at 4:15 p.m., the author will present an informal seminar in the Standish Room of the Science Library on the uptown campus. The events are sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute, and are free and open to the public.

PROFILE
Philip Schultz, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, is the author of the new memoir, My Dyslexia (2011), a first-hand exploration of the mind’s ability to triumph over its own disabilities. Unable to read until the age of 11, Schultz avoided a medical explanation of his difficulties until his oldest son was diagnosed with the condition.

The Publishers Weekly reviewer said that “Schultz paints a precise and compelling picture of how his brain works, how he sees himself, and how he thinks others have seen him throughout his life . . . From its impact on family members, to difficulties in school that may or may not be resolved with diagnosis, to its effect on social interactions and relationships, Schultz describes how dyslexia touches all areas of life. His affecting prose will inspire compassion and leave readers with an understanding not only of dyslexia but of the lifelong challenges that someone with disabilities may face.”

The author of six books of poetry, Schultz received the Pulitzer Prize for Failure (2007), a collection that investigates the many varieties of failure, both personal and artistic. The book also pays tribute to Schultz’s father, a perennial failure in business. In advance praise, poet Tony Hoagland said, “[Schultz’s] stylistic trademarks are his great emotional directness and his intelligent haranguing—of God, the reader, and himself. He is one of the least affected of American poets, and one of the fiercest.”

The late Norman Mailer said, “Philip Schultz is a hell of a poet, one of the very best of his generation, full of slashing language, good rhythms, surprises, and the power to leave you meditating in the cave of his poems.”

Schultz’s other collections include The God of Loneliness (2010), Living in the Past (2004), and The Holy Worm of Praise (2002). Daniel L. Guillory, writing in Library Journal, called The Holy Worm of Praise “one of the strongest collections of lyrics published in the last decade.” Writing in Booklist, Ray Olson called Living in the Past, a “rich memory piece [that] has the impact of a raging, kaleidoscopic animated cartoon, exhilarating and unforgettable.”

Schultz’s first poetry collection, Like Wings (1978), received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award.

A teacher as well as a poet, Schultz also serves as director of the Greenwich Village writing school, The Writers Studio, which he founded in 1987.